thomas jane

Ray's acting (and lying) abilities are in full force on 'Hung' (Sun., 10:30PM ET on HBO) when his very pregnant client looks to him for some self-assurance. "Are you somehow like freaked out by me -- I mean the pregnant aspect of things?" she asks.

OK, so he's not exactly verbose in his praise of her and the situation at hand. But it does the trick. "OK, well that makes me feel better about it," she says. "Maybe it was all in my head. Because in your head ... it's all clear?"

"Totally, totally clear," says Ray. But that's not at all what is going through his head...

HBO has announced return premiere dates for two of its popular dude-friendly shows. Both 'Hung' and 'Entourage' are slated to return Jun. 27, following vamp camp fest 'True Blood,' which heads back to the cable network on Jun. 13, according to the Live Feed.

The shows will fill the Sunday 10PM time slot now occupied by David Simon's 'Treme,' which wraps its first season this summer.

'Hung' season 2 is expected to explore the new dynamic between Ray (Thomas Jane), Tanya (Jane Adams) and Lenore (Rebecca Creskoff).

'Entourage' star Adrian Grenier recently promised that fans would see a different side of Hollywood pretty boy Vinnie Chase in the show's upcoming seventh season.

"They're going to get a whole new Vince this year," Grenier told the Hollywood Reporter earlier this month. "He's grappling with life and death circumstances."

Sounds like a big change from the character's previous dilemmas, which usually involved choosing between the blonde or the brunette.

This year offered plenty of hot and steamy TV moments, but some of the best featured hunky, half-naked guys. It was like an instant party for all of us female viewers out here, whether you're into sexy vampires, rough-gem bikers, or scrappy high school football players.

But rather than savor these moments all by ourselves, we've put together a round-up to share them with the world. Although they're numbered from one to 10, we think all of these guys are equally sexy. See if you agree with our choices.

All season long on Hung, there's been one lingering question. We knew it from the moment we met Tanya, and it was solidified in last night's season finale when she sat on her couch, in dirty sweat pants, reading The Power of Positive Thinking, only to run away terrified at the sight of numerous flies. One lingering question and finally, Ray is asking it too.

So I've been watching Hung (because I'm flattered that they'd base a show like that around me). It's proven to be a much more entertaining take on the premise than I expected. Thomas Jane and Jane Adams are simply perfect in their respective roles as the reluctant gigolo and his high-strung pimp. I was digging Anne Heche as his wife, and even getting his bizarre kids.

I didn't even know the show needed anything more, until Ray booked his most demanding and bizarre client yet and Natalie Zea (Dirty Sexy Money) sashayed into the room. Wow, did Hung need her. And I don't mean because she's gorgeous, though that certainly helps. What a new dynamic she's brought to everything.

Going in, everyone in the crowd had to know that the panel for HBO's Hung was going to consist of puns and schoolyard humor. After all, it's a show about a down-and-out guy who uses his best asset -- his manhood -- and becomes a male prostitute. So it shouldn't have been a big surprise when a reporter started the questioning by asking whether the show continues a trend of shows about "ordinary working stiffs with a secret."

It went pretty much downhill from there, aided and abetted by the show's stars, Thomas Jane and Jane Adams.

Jane, on his audition process: "I had to go into the other room to disrobe, so I wouldn't hit anyone in the eye. It's for safety."

Adams told a critic that it was interesting he was making so many penis puns "While you're holding that mike."

Co-creator Colette Burson got into the act, calling the member of Jane's character of Ray Drecker as "The Platonic Penis. It's the ideal penis on a certain level."

What's odd to me is that while Spartacus has put thought into the fact that male nudity is a part of their world and addressed it in this manner, no one has come up with a prosthetic for Thomas Jane in Hung over at HBO. Isn't his dong the centerpiece of the whole show? Or maybe he doesn't need one *nudge* *nudge* *wink* *wink*.

HBO has billed their new series Hung as a comedy. But last week's pilot was pretty light on the laughs. That's not to say that the show doesn't have potential. I do think it's fair to say it's not living up to any of it, though. I didn't get around to watching the premiere until this weekend, which is when I realized that there was no new episode this week. It makes sense when you consider the Fourth of July holiday. But when you're trying to establish a rhythm and audience for a new show, it's a horrible idea.

Especially when your show is only "eh" to begin with. The biggest flaw in the premiere of Hung was how it ended. You have to consider that after only one episode to get to know your premise and characters, you're going to be asking people to wait two weeks and then come back for more. That means you have to grab onto them with something that makes them need to come back. Hung just kind of withered at the end.

Every single review that has been written for the new drama Hung (and will ever be written) will use a joke/pun concerning the title of the show. I refuse to do that. I have a good head on my shoulders. It might be hard to do, but I think if I refrain from bad jokes I won't get the shaft from readers.

Jimmy Kimmel Live went literal with this promo for the new show. It brings back a certain celebrity we had all forgotten about...

Over the span of Hung's first few episodes, Ray Drecker utters a lot of depressing one-liners. Things like "everything's falling apart" and "I used to be a big deal" are common phrases for him. However, as the title of the show suggests, Ray Drecker (played by The Punisher's Thomas Jane) has at least one thing to be very happy about.

The new HBO dramedy is set in Detroit against the backdrop of a financially ruined automotive industry skyline, and as the world crumbles around him, Ray is forced to re-evaluate his life while everything he cares about slowly slips away. It's unsettling and sad, but in some ways, fortuitous ... at least for HBO anyway. Considering the current economic crisis many Americans are experiencing, a lot of people are going to relate to this show. Just probably not to the big penis part.

Hung is a new reality competition show that features various designers competing to see who can design, create, and hang the best drapes in one hour. Well, no. Actually it's a new comedy/drama about a guy who's having a terrible life until he realizes that he can market his giant penis. (Don't worry, no actual penis is shown in the clip below.)

There are going to be several lines that every reviewer will use to describe this show, so let's get one of out of the way now: "Hung is going to be huge!"

The networks are going to unleash their new fall schedules in a few weeks. Which new shows are in the running? Well, Juliana Margulies is going to be an attorney (again), Kelsey Grammer is going to be a Wall Street CEO who gets canned (you knew you were going to see at least one show with that premise this fall), Lauren Graham is going to be a self-help guru, Chevy Chase and The Soup's Joel McHale are going to be community college students, and Thomas Jane is going to be ... well, Hung.

AOL has a list of the 30 shows that have the best shot at being on our TV screens when the fall rolls around. Not all of the shows will make it, of course. Some we'll never see at all, unless the pilot episode is leaked online. I'm still ticked that ABC didn't pick up Marlowe (with Life on Mars star Jason O'Mara) a couple of season ago. The gallery is after the jump.

Hey, if Showtime can find success with the UK's Secret Diary of a Call Girl, then HBO should be good to go, right? The best part about the article is that writer Dmitry Lipkin said, "The show is very much about what's happening in the country, how people are trying to survive using what God had given them." I guess prostitution is on the rise then, because God gave lots of women the tools to do that. And I can't wait to get started on my career in modeling because God gave me all of this (just imagine Brad Pitt and Denzel Washington and think way more beautiful).

HBO has found the lead for one of their roughly 658 new "Hey, remember how we used to have good TV shows before we started giving you crap like John From Cincinnati? Huh? Do ya?" pilots.Thomas Jane (The Punisher) has been tapped to star in Hung, a one-hour dark comedy about a middle-aged high school basketball coach who figures out a way to use his best asset. Now, I'm no expert, but I'm guessing that the title doesn't mean that his best asset is his ability to tie a wicked hangman's noose.

Hung is a top priority at HBO, as new entertainment president Sue Naegle has made the spec script her first major purchase and first pilot pickup. Written by the creator of The Riches and directed by Oscar winner Alexander Payne (Sideways), Hung marks Jane's first regular TV role. He has, of course, previously made TV appearances, including a stint on wife Patricia Arquette's series, Medium.